City of Warren Public Works Superintendent Joe Reinke got a lot of help planting the city’s Earth Day tree Thursday morning.

A group of youngsters from the Jefferson DeFrees Family Center early learning program walked to the Third Avenue planting site and got their gloved hands dirty.

Reinke talked to the students about the importance of trees – that they produce oxygen, create shade and homes for birds and squirrels – and wood products – “we make our houses out of wood.”

Then, three students helped him carry the seven-foot-tall European white birch sapling from the truck to the hole Reinke had previously dug.

City of Warren Arborist and Public Works Superintendent Joe Reinke, with the help of Jefferson DeFrees Family Center early learning program students (from left) Flint, Abigail, and Owen, carries the city’s Earth Day tree, a European white birch, to its new home along Third Avenue.

With the tree in position, all of the students helped push dirt back around the tree’s roots, being careful to place any worms they found in the hole as well.

After that, they put a layer of mulch on top to provide additional nutrients for the sapling.

Next, Reinke brought out a container of water and the students helped him generously water the tree.

Not long after the water canister returned to the truck, the sun broke free from behind the clouds and provided the other thing the tree will need to grow.

“We try to do this every year with the Jefferson DeFrees Family Center,” Reinke said. “It’s a good field trip for them and it’s a good field trip for me.”

“We get to add a little shade to our urban environment,” he said.

He said the tree will not grow much for the first year, but will grow quickly after that.

The open space above the tree will allow it to grow unimpeded to its full height of more than 30 feet.